Chat Cafe
by WeAllFlyHigh
Summary: A new cafe has an interesting twist to get customers, a life sized statue of Chat Noir, and Alya insists that she has to do a report. But the trend of taking pictures kissing said statue and posting them, that is a huge problem for Marinette. Especially since Alya wants to put her on the Ladyblog.


AN: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug and am making no profits off of this.

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Alya had grabbed Marinette as soon as she had stepped onto school grounds that morning. She went through the their morning routine of "hellos" and "how are you"s so fast that Marinette knew her friend was very excited. Marinette had known she would be last night when she had been asked to come, but she hadn't been informed of her friends entire plan until she couldn't escape it. Throughout the school day Alya had insisted that this was one hundred percent completely necessary. She claimed that she couldn't ignore a development like this. Even if the story wasn't quite like her normal reports it still belonged on the Ladyblog. She had to review this place and do the whole experience. The Chat Cafe while not directly tied to either of Paris's superhero's but was definitely a part of the story of Ladybug and Chat Noir, even though it was more Chat's than Ladybug's.

The place was cute, Marinette would never deny that. There were painted cat sized black paw prints leading into the cafe. Green curtains hung in the window and every item on the menu was some sort of pun, some of which were as bad as Chat's. On top of that the owners were donating a portion of the profits to animals rescues. Chat had apparently saved their own cat awhile back from some akuma generated glitter-oozes and had inspired them to do something similar. These facts alone would have made the cafe a noteworthy feel good story. But the feature that attracted the most attention, and the reason Alya just had to come, was the statue by the entrance.

A stone Chat Noir leaned against the wall of the cafe grinning. It was not as finely made as the statue in the park, but it was painted and rather life like. The owners told everyone that they had gotten Chat's blessing in the whole endeavor and that he had even volunteered to pose for it. Marinette hadn't gotten the chance to ask the cat if this was true, but she could believe it. The cat did love attention.

She wondered if he had guessed what kind of attention his likeness would get. His ego might be big enough to dream this up. Tourists were flocking to the venue to get the closest thing they could to a good picture with a superhero. Previously all their pictures had been taken quickly and often included hair blown into disarray and eyes slightly red from the screaming and crying. Ladybug was able to fix whatever damage an akuma caused, but what people did to themselves was beyond her control. She remembered Alya taking hundreds of photos before she had perfected her technique and started using stronger hair spray. Taking photos with the statue hadn't stayed as just a tourist activity for long. Parisians had quickly started doing the same thing, but they had put a twist on the normal poses. And that had turned the already noteworthy cafe into a big story for Alya, which was currently a major problem for Marinette.

It started with Aurore Beauréal. She posted a picture on all her social media accounts with a caption declaring it to be a thank you for everything the superheroes had done. An hour later #kissforchat was trending and a tradition had started.

"Marinette, come on. Do it for me." Alya had placed her friend beside the statue and held her phone ready for a picture. Meanwhile, Marinette was trying to inch away.

"It's your blog, you should do it. Here I'll take it for you."

Alya didn't even let Marinette reach for her own phone before she responded. "But Mari, look at you. It would be perfect."

"No one wants to see me on the Ladyblog. I'm just a random civilian." Alya rolled her eyes at that.

"Marinette if any random civilian gets to be on the Ladyblog, the number one source of all things Ladybug run by me," Alya pointed to herself, "it's my best friend. Besides, I already told you I need a picture to go with this article and I don't have the rights to use someones selfie. And really, look at yourself. It's like you did it on purpose. You'll look great with our Chat here."

She would look great beside the statue. Her outfit had been designed with her partner in mind. Marinette was proud of the things that she did as Ladybug and she had been inspired. But because she was Ladybug it was too risky to dress in a Ladybug themed outfit. She had even been avoiding wearing red for a long time. Instead, she had made an off-the-sholder green shirt with small paw prints decorating the neckline. She had paired the shirt with a black skirt trimmed in green. For any Parisian it was subtle but supportive, but for Ladybug it was daring. When Alya had told her they were going to the Chat Cafe it had seemed like the perfect chance to wear it. Paris couldn't get enough of their superheros and she didn't doubt that some other customers would be dressed in similar colors.

Obviously, the outfit was a mistake. It was one thing to dress up in Chat's colors. It was something else entirely to be pictured on the Ladyblog beside any image of Chat. She knew how obses- how enthused some of her fans were. Her best friend was a prime example. Their theories about Ladybug and who she was could get wild. She dreaded what they would say about a dark haired girl with pigtails appearing on the blog, especially if she was kissing Chat.

"I know, but Alya I just don't feel comfortable with this."

Normally Alya wouldn't push her friend to do things she wasn't comfortable with, encounters with Adrien being an exception since it was for her own good. However, Marinette wasn't a good liar and Alya knew it. "With having your picture taken? Marinette I have hundreds of pictures of us."

Marinette squirmed and twisted her fingers around each other. "It's not exactly having my picture taken..."

"Then pucker up."

"No!" Marinette gasped and thrust stomped her foot. She then quickly she looked away from her friend and the statue. "The thing is I can't be in this alone."

"I have pictures of just you too." Alya had a slightly concerned expression on her face, which meant that Marinette was making some headway. However, Alya's arms were crossed and her hip was cocked to the right, and that was not a good sign for Marinette.

Marinette bit her lip and grasped at straws. "But this is going online. Who knows how many people will see it. The Ladyblog is really popular."

Alya's brow furrowed. They both knew that was a fair point. "Would you do it if I did too, in the same picture and everything?"

Marinette stifled her sigh. She could work with this. She focused on making herself look as innocent and helpless as possible. Puppy dog eyes were a weakness of Alya's. "Well yeah, but then who would take the picture?"

"We'll ask a waiter."

"But they're so busy today. It doesn't seem right." The Chat Cafe was apparently always busy but any argument was worth trying at this point.

"Marinette it's ok. We're customers and I talked to the owners about the article. They're ok with everything."

"We can just do it another time. When they're not so busy."

"Marinette, I've already gotten comments and emails about this place. My viewers are waiting and I can't let them down. Besides I already wrote half the article in class today. Don't give me that look, it was only review." Marinette wiped the judgement off her face. She knew she had pushed too hard with that last comment and yet she still might have a chance.

"Maybe we can help then?"

Marinette's head spun as she whipped around towards the voice. There went her chance. Further down the street was Nino grinning broadly and Adrien waving at them. She and Alya must have been arguing louder than she thought if they could be heard that far down the street. Marinette face got hotter with every step that brought Adrien closer.

"Yes! Nino, thank you so much. _Someone_ was being camera shy."

"It happens to the best of us." Adrien patted Marinette's shoulder and offered her a sympathetic smile. She could only make a noise that was somewhere between a squeak and a hum in response.

While she was dazed, Alya grabbed Marinette's arm and positioned her next to the statue. "I want at least three shots, one close up and one with the whole thing in view," she said as she handed her phone to Nino.

"Don't sweat it. I got this."

Marinette's mouth was dry. Forget the Ladyblog, Adrien was seeing this. It was too much for her to handle. Was she supposed to just hold her lips on the statue until they told her to move? Did she even have to actually kiss it or could she fake it? How many people had actually kissed this? She tried to count off the top of her head. Alya had shown her a bunch. Alex had posed with it but hadn't kissed it. Chole had. Would this mean she indirectly kissed Chole? Marinette felt her face twisting into a grimace.

"Hey," Alya whispered from the other side of the statue. "If you look your best maybe Adrien will be impressed by how cute you are. He might start thinking of kissing you." Marinette's eyes darted to check. Adrien was watching from behind behind Nino's shoulder. The cheshire grin on his face left Marinette only capable of thinking about him and how she had never seen that expression on his face. The first flash went off.

By the time Marinette could think clearly again, Alya was inspecting her pictures over their table. Nino and Adrien were sitting across from them with adorable animal shaped pastries and coffee. Marinette swirled her spoon around her parfait and tried not to think too much as Alya showed her the pictures. She couldn't imagine her face being any redder as they were in the photos. At the very least the flushed girl pictured didn't seem like the type to have Ladybug's grace and confidence.

"This one would look awesome as the new banner for the blog. But for the picture that will accompany the article, I think I'll go with a picture of the cafe," Alya said. "Is that ok with you Mari?" Seeing her friend's nose wrinkle Alya quickly continued. "Don't you guys think she looks cute?"

Adrien nodded as Nino laughed. "You look pretty cute too Alya."

"Don't I always?" Alya winked and then returned to the more serious demeanor of a reporter on a story. "Anyways this place is really nice. I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype."

"Yeah, it's really the cats meow."

"Adrien Agreste was that a pun?" Adrien shrugged and smiled as Nino chocked on his drink.

"That was terrible." Alya shook her head slowly as if she wasn't smiling.

"I thought it was purrfect," Nino added. Adrien winked at his friend. They were clearly enjoying themselves.

"I guess this place rubs off on its customers. Maybe we'll all get superpowers from the tea," Adrien said.

"I think it takes a bit more than that," Marinette mumbled. What would Adrien say if he knew how it really worked she wondered. Of course that would mean he knew Chat or Ladybug. Well he knew Ladybug but he didn't know he knew so it didn't count. But he did seem to admire her, Ladybug that is, so maybe she should arrange something. Marinette glanced at him and found that he was looking at her with a weird expression on his face. Did she have something on her face? Marinette tried to stealthy check her reflection on her cup. When she looked back up Adrien wasn't looking at her anymore.

"Before we leave, would you guys mind me taking a picture with the statue too?"

"No problem, dude," Nino said. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he grinned mischievously. He leaned closer to Adrien. "Are you going to kiss it too?"

Adrien tensed for a moment and then relaxed. "Maybe I should," he answered with a grin.

Her spoon slipped from Marinette's fingers. It landed with a loud clang that both of the boys didn't seem to notice. They were too caught up in their jokes. But Alya leaned closer to Marinette. "Girl, play it cool. No need to be jealous of a statue," she whispered.

Marinette felt herself nod. There was no need to be jealous and she didn't feel that way. It was just a statue. But somehow Marinette almost felt as if a picture of Adrien kissing Chat was a hundred times worse than one of her doing the same.

The close up of Alya and Marinette stayed up on the Ladyblog for two weeks. What finally convinced Alya to take it down was not Marinette's pleading. Instead it was a simply irresistible photo of Ladybug smiling directly at the camera as her yoyo swung out to catch one of the black butterflies. The picture was so good Alya said some big newspaper had asked her for it.

Adrien privately agreed that it was purrhaps one of the best photos taken of his lady yet. But he still had a copy of the previous banner saved away. He had never stopped to examine why the photo made his heart warm. However, if he did he would probably say it was because he enjoyed being appreciated for his work. He would be wrong.

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I might do a sequel to this. I haven't decided yet.

Thank you for reading. Reviews are very motivating and help me improve so I would really appreciate some.


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